REVIEW: Viola Davis Is the MVP of New Film, Air

Ben Affleck directs and stars alongside Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Matthew Maher, and Matt Damon in the Michael Jordan and Nike-inspired new film Air.

Matt Damon (The Last Duel) stars as the Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro along with Affleck as Nike co-founder Phil Knight as they battle their way into the “running shoe” business during the rise of the NBA and their plight to sign the next big athlete to their roster of marketing campaigns. Sonny is intent after seeing the newcomer Michael Jordan take a shot on the court, repeatedly watching how his team trusted him, completely left open to make an effortless winning shot. That confidence he saw in Jordan had him believe that Nike needed to be a contender to acquire him with an endorsement deal with their full budget of $250,000, which was the most any brand at the time had ever offered an athlete.

Sonny’s idea was not completely effortless to bring to fruition, as the CEO, Knight, was not easy to convince; he was looking to split the budget across other key players with the help of Nike VP of Marketing Rob Strasser, portrayed by Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Nike executive Howard White (Chris Tucker). The start of the film focuses on the behind-the-scenes company culture of tracking athletes and studying where corporations want to place their bets on endorsement deals. There are scenes with some of Nike’s competitors, including Converse and the German-owned Adidas brand, that offers some comic relief in the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism. They are all vying for Michael Jordan’s attention but it’s Vaccaro who crosses the line, which is frowned upon by many, including Jordan’s agent David Falk (Chris Messina) when he pays the Jordan family a visit to explain why Nike has his best interest at heart.

There is much emphasis placed on Jordan’s mother, Deloris Jordan, portrayed by EGOT winner Viola Davis, and how she runs things in the family. She is the person that sits down with Vaccaro when he makes his impromptu visit as he pretty much lays out the scenarios on what Viola can expect when visiting the other potential sports brands to hear their pitches. Vaccaro insists he will not get the attention he deserves from any of them except Nike. Vaccaro was pretty confident in his beliefs that Jordan was the next big thing, pitching him without the approval of Phil Knight with explicit orders not to approach Jordan. But as anyone who knows anything about sports and sneakers, the Air Jordan is the best-selling shoe of all time, racking in billions of dollars, which has contributed to huge charitable donations. on behalf of Nike and the Jordan family. Viola Davis gave a brave and stoic rendition of Deloris with excellent pacing throughout her dialogue. She made you feel that mother’s love, loyalty, and patience.

The main point of Air is not so much the outcome because it’s common knowledge that Jordan signs with Nike; it’s not even how these big brands battled for the deal, but rather how we get there with the Jordan family and what history-making happened, spearheaded by who Michael was and still is. And the main part of how we get there is the tenacity of not only Jordan, who isn’t really seen much at all in this film but in Deloris Jordan’s character, which was slayed by Davis, who demanded that her son receive a percentage of revenue from every shoe that has his name on it; she didn’t take no for an answer. This marked an unprecedented time in brand marketing and forced the hand of Nike shareholders and investors to part ways with money never earmarked for young players and went on to set the standard on sports endorsement deals allowing for billions to go straight to them. Damon’s character was also instrumental in advocating to pass this into law.

Deloris Jordan was a main facet of that deal and Viola perfectly captures that spirit and that heart of not only knowing her son’s worth but explaining how Michael did too as a Black man with extraordinary talent. While some viewers may get caught up in the story of Nike making this huge brand-changing deal, there would be no deal without the excellence of Michael Jordan, and while the filmmakers know that, I hope the critics take time to know this as well. From the music industry and beyond, corporate America has been profiting off of Black culture since forever.

We’ve heard the horror stories of the young preteen group New Edition being brought on tours only to be literally dropped back in their low-income neighborhood penniless until they were picked back up for their next show. That’s why Deloris’ role in managing this deal was pivotal and while these bad deals still happen today across all industries, her family was able to negotiate beyond the $250,000, and the red iconic Mercedes Jordan was offered to include a monetary piece of every single shoe. That is the story of Air and why it’s a feel-good movie, everything else is secondary.

There is a small mention of a little-known rap group at the time that reached global success, RUN DMC, which had Michael’s attention planted on Adidas as it was the brand of choice in the Black community and was made popular by the group’s massive hit, “My Adidas.” I was hoping there would have been a tad bit more on the influence of Black culture, specifically rap music, and how that dominates and moves spending decisions across all demos nationwide. Do we have to talk about race in every film? Yes, we do when it’s woven into the success of Air Jordans and Nike. When Black culture latches on to a brand, there is usually a wildly successful level of trend-setting success.

Viola Davis (The Woman King) gives a stellar performance with the no-nonsense business level-headedness that Deloris personified, flying from country to country along with her husband, played by Julius Tennon (The Woman King), to make sure her son was properly represented and compensated. This says everything about women in business; yes, Deloris was handling Michael’s business, and Davis crushes it with her powerful scenes in the meeting rooms in front of these global brands and opposite Matt Damon’s character.

Damon and Affleck give outstanding performances and still have amazing energy together. Damon was able to channel the average guy looking to make a difference with his overweight anti-runner, twinkie-eating, guy-next-door charisma, and his spontaneous speech that goes off the cuff in the meeting with Michael, which could basically inspire a sleepy sloth. There was energy and emotion mixed with the great comedic timing of Affleck’s one-liners playing the aloof CEO focused on Nike’s core messaging at the time, running, as well as trying to attain zen and following his breath when meditating during the negotiations. This duo still has their signature famous chemistry, which they don’t always get the credit for.

Chris Tucker (Rush Hour franchise) as Howard White, Sonny’s colleague, and advisor, gave a great animated portrayal in true “Tucker” fashion. He had many chats with the real-life White, who introduced him to as many people as possible to help him perfect the role. Marlon Wayans (Respect) has a small inspiring role but he still keeps proving he is a serious dramatic actor. Chris Messina stars as Michael Jordan’s agent, David Falk, who isn’t looking for friends but to make as much money as possible and to celebrate retirement over a good steak. His back-and-forth banter with Damon’s character was definitely comical and Messina’s snarky and berating competitive performance gave even more life to the story.

Matthew Maher had many laugh-out-loud moments as the skateboarding “mid-life crisis having” creative director for Nike as the man who built the shoe custom to Michael’s actual foot, who coined “Air Jordan” and eventually came up with the silhouette of the sports star to replace that on every retail item.

The cinematography was reflective of the ’80s muted color palette, with most of the shots taking place at a transformed Santa Monica warehouse which served as the film’s Nike headquarters, with a few outside shots including Jordan’s home. There were lots of nostalgic gadgets and fashion choices, including Affleck’s ski goggle-esque visor shades and geometrical tracksuits; the team used old Nike line sheets to pull fashion choices and background sneaker props.

The editing, at times, was a bit haphazard, with a scene with Viola speaking to Matt and a viable tear in her eye which, after a frame switch, is gone. I would have liked to have had them reshoot it, as it was distracting from her dialogue. If left intentionally, it didn’t serve any real-life moment purpose for me. Some of the shots weren’t that exciting, including a 360 spin around the actors while in a heated debate over the Jordan deal, which seemed out of place from the entire film and the way it was shot. Overall though, it was a feel-good solid film, and I would expect a nomination for Viola Davis at the least.

Air was written by Alex Convery and produced by David Ellison, Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Madison Ainley, Jeff Robinov, Peter Guber, and Jason Michael Berman and is in theaters April 5.